Towing arrangement having selectively adjustable standards



United States Patent [72] Inventor Napoleon St. Cyr [56] References Cited 10 Overland Drive, Stratford, Connecticut UNITED STATES PATENTS 06075 551,744 12/1895 Brothers 104/117 P 7261676 2,677,331 5/1954 Hauseman... 104/112 [22] Med May M968 2 981 20s 4/1961 Bannerman 104/173 [45] Patented Nov. 10, 1970 Primary Examiner-Arthur L. La Point Assistant Examiner-Robert W. Saifer Attorney-Wooster, Davis & Cifelli ABSTRACT: The disclosure relates to a marine towing ar- 1 22212151265112JZTZEZEEEJZIZZSISS11332 51 SELECTIVELY ADJUSTABLE STANDARDS 7 Cl S 2 Dr S cludes a continuous cable, havmg spaced tow bars depending a l g lg therefrom. extending in a circuit over the beach and the [52] U.S..Cl 104/173, ocean, carried atop spaced supporting standards. Loading and 104/1 17, 104/125 unloading stations located near the onshore and offshore loca- [51] Int.Cl B61b 7/00, tions, respectively, are defined by shorter supporting stan- E04h 12/ l 8 dards which draw the cable and tow bars closer to the surface [50] Field of Search 104/112. of the water for ease of mounting and dismounting. The

113, 114, 115, 1 16, 1 17, 125, 173; 248/59, 161, shorter supporting standards are selectively vertically adjusta- 405 ble to compensate for all normal tidal conditions.

Patented NOV. 10, .1970

' i INVENTOR; BY 3 flTTOH/VEYS.

TOWING ARRANGEMENT HAVING SELECTIVELY ADJUSTABLE STANDARDS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an overhead cable towing arrangement for transporting surfboards and their riders and, more particularly, to such an arrangement wherein the height of the cable-supporting standards located at the passenger loading and unloading stations is selectively adjustable above the water level to compensate for tidal conditions.

Reference should be made to my copending U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 646,026, filed June 14, 1967, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,486,463 entitled Towing Arrangement For Transportation Of Surfboards And Their Riders. This patent application describes an overhead cable system for marine usage, including tow bars depending from the cable for carrying a rider and stationary cable-supporting standards positioned at spaced intervals in a line extending from the beach to an offshore location beyond the surf. Two arrangements are therein disclosed, one for use at beaches where the surf is light" and the other for use where the surf is heavy. As has been fully explained in my copending application, the condition of the surf is dependent upon submarine topography, location of offshore storms, and other geographical conditions, and selection of the proper towing arrangement is determined by site engineermg.

This invention is concerned with an improvement in that towing arrangement designed for use with heavy surf, wherein the rider is carried high above the level of the water so that he may safely pass over the incoming surf under substantially all normal tidal conditions. The supporting standards carry the cable high above the beach and substantially all of the offshore path of travel. However, shorter supporting towers are provided at loading and unloading stations to lower the tow bars to a position to allow the riders to mount and dismount with their surfboards just above the surface of the water. With a fixed structure of this arrangement it is necessary to compromise the location of the loading and unloading stations relative to high and low tides, therefore, it will always be difficult to mount the tow bars which are sometimes washed over and sometimes too high above the level of the water. Since tides may raise the surface of the water as much as several feet, the effectiveness of a fixed cable arrangement constructed to satisfy all tidal conditions is usually somewhat unsatisfactory.

Therefore, it would be desirable to maintain the tow bars a given height above the water surface at both the loading and unloading stations regardless of tidal conditions, to allow the riders to mount and dismount with a maximum of ease.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is the primary object of this invention to provide an improved marine towing arrangement having an overhead cable from which depend tow bars for carrying riders above the surface of the water from an onshore to an offshore location.

Another object is to provide such a marine towing arrangement as described in the above paragraph having loading and unloading stations wherein the cable and tow bars are lowered to a given height above the surface of the water under all normal tidal conditions by selectively raising and lowering adjustable cable supporting standards at these stations in response to tidal conditions.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a towing arrangement as described in the above two paragraphs having means to simultaneously raise and lower the cable tensioning weight as the supporting standards are lowered and raised to prevent overstraining the cable during adjustment of the supporting standards.

To accomplish these objects, in one form, I have provided a marine towing arrangement including a continuous cable extending in a circuit from above the onshore location to above the offshore location and carrying spaced transporting means depending from the cable. The transporting means pass slightly abovethe surface of the water at a loading station and an unloading station for ease of mounting and dismounting. Spaced supporting standards carry the cable, those standards positioned at the loading and unloading stations being normally shorter than the remainder thereof and are selectively vertically adjustable to maintain the transporting means slightly above the surface of the water under all normal tidal conditions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING DESCRIPTIONOF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Turning now to the drawing, there is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 a marine towing arrangement for carrying surfboards and their riders. It extends from an onshore location over beach B to an offshore location in the ocean 0 beyond the surf. A continuous overhead cable 10 is supported atop spaced supporting standards 12 upon suitable roller assemblies l4. Tow bars 16 which may be constructed in accordance with the teaching of my above identified copending application. depend from the cable 10 and pass in a continuous circuit over the beach and the ocean.

A suitable drive assembly designated generally by the numeral 18 is located on the beach (note FIG. I) and includes a drive motor 20, a gear reduction unit 22, a drive shaft 24 and a drive wheel 26 over which the continuous cable 10 passes. Supporting standards I2 extend away from the beach into the ocean 0, each standard mounted in suitable pilings 27 anchored in the ocean floor F.

A tension terminal designated generally by the numeral 28 located at the'offshore location (note FIG. 2) maintains the cable 10 taut. The terminal assembly is constructed of heavy structural supporting beams 30 anchored in pilings 32 and carry at their upper ends horizontal tracks 34 upon which a tension carriage 36 is reciprocable in a direction parallel to the longitudinal runs of the cable I0. A tension wheel 38 about which the cable passes is carried by the tension carriage 36. Tension is maintained on the cable by a tensioning weight 40 secured to the carriage 36 and wheel 38 by a tie cable 42 which passes over suitable idler rollers 44. The weight 40 may be made of concrete in a known manner and further includes a large chamber 46 for reasons to become apparent hereinafter.

With particular reference to FIG. I, there is illustrated loading station 48 comprising two low adjustable supporting standards 50 differing in both height and construction from the higher supporting standards I2. These standards 50 carry hold-down rollerassemblies 52 at their upper ends to lower the cable 10 and the depending tow bars 16 to a location slightly above the surface of the water. Thus, the rider may mount the tow bar with the maximum ease. The low supporting standards 50 comprise an outer tubular member 54 anchored in a suitable piling 27 and a relatively axially movable inner telescoping tubular member 56. Motor means for raising and lowering the inner tubular member 56 (note dot- -dash lines) may be in the form of a screw jack, a hydraulic pump, or any other similar means. There is disclosed in FIG. I a screw jack comprising a drive motor 58, seated upon the piling 27 within the outer tubular member 54, which drives a screw shaft 60. A fitting 62 which may be of the ball bearing type is firmly secured in the inner tubular member and threadedly receives the screw shaft 60 so that rotation of the shaft in one direction will raise the inner tubular member 56 while rotation in the opposite direction will lower the member 56. A safety sheathed electrical cable 64 extends from a control panel 66 at the drive assembly 18 over the beach and tive raising and lowering device (note dot-dash lines). The

adjustable supporting standards 50' are in the form of doubleacting hydraulic cylinders including outer cylindrical members 70 and inner axially movable telescoping members 72. A piston (not shown) is to be secured to the inner member 72 and ports are located in the cylindrical member 70. A motor driven pump 74 mounted upon one of the standards 50' receives electrical power through a sheathed electrical supply cable 64 which extends along the ocean floor from the control panel 66. The pump 74 is connected to a source of suitable hydraulic fluid at 75. Piping 76 connects the pump 74 with pressure dome 78 mounted upon one of the standards 50' and from the pressure dome to inlet valves (not shown) in the outer cylindrical members 70. A single pump may easily supply both of the adjustable standards 56', the pressure dome eliminating pump surges to smoothly raise and lower the inner telescoping members. The adjustable standards may be operated individually if desired and to this end I have provided a control valve 79 in the piping 76 between the two standards.

As has been described above, the tensioning weight 40 which assists in controlling the location of the tension wheel 38 includes a chamber 46 to which is connected one end of a flexible tubing 80 whose other end is connected to the pump 74 to fill the chamber with the hydraulic fluid to increase its weight. The weight also includes a remotely controllable exhaust valve (not shown) to purge the chamber 46 in order to decrease its weight. Therefore, it is possible to simultaneously increase the height of the adjustable towers 50 and 50' during high tide conditions, (note dot-dash lines in F165. l and 2) while pumping hydraulic fluid into the chamber 46 to lower the tensioning weight 40 to take up the slack in the cable 10, by remote control from the control panel 66.

Of course, the weight may be raised and lowered in any one of several ways; for instance, by positively driving one of the idler rollers 34 over which the tie cable 42 passes. In any event, some sort of assist is necessary to move the weight vertically to take up slack so that the cable will not be overstrainecl when adjusting the support towers 50 and 50.

It should be understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the true spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

lclaim:

l. A marine towing arrangement for transporting surfboards and riders from an onshore location to an offshore location, comprising: a continuous cable extending in a circuit from above the onshore location to above the offshore location; spaced transporting means depending from said cable to carry surfboards and riders to the offshore location, said transporting means passing slightly above the surface of the water at a loading station near the onshore location and at an unloading station at the offshore location for ease of mounting and dismounting; spaced supporting means carrying said continuous cable, said supporting means positioned at the loading and unloading stations being normally shorter than the remainder of said spaced supporting means and being selectively telescopically vertically adjustable to maintain said transporting means sli htly above the surface of the water under all normal tidal con itions; height ad usting means contained in each of said adjustable supporting means; control means remotely positioned from all said supporting means for selectively operating said height adjusting means; and means for driving said cable in its circuit.

2. The marine towing arrangement defined in claim ll wherein said adjustable standards include a first fixed member and a second relatively axially movable member, said cable carried at the upper end of said second member.

3. The marine towing arrangement defined in claim 2 wherein said height adjusting means comprises motor means to move said second member vertically.

4. The marine towing arrangement defined in claim 3 wherein said motor means includes a screw jack comprising: a screw shaft mounted for rotation in said first member; and a fitting secured to said second member and cooperably receiving said screw shaft whereby said screw shaft is rotated in one direction to raise said second member and is rotated in the opposite direction to lower said second member.

5. The marine towing arrangement defined in claim 3 wherein said motor means includes a double-acting hydraulic motor comprising: a pump; a hydraulic cylinder; tubing connecting said pump and said hydraulic cylinder and a piston; and wherein said first member is a tubular element having ports defined therein to form said hydraulic cylinder; and said second member is telescopically positioned in said first member and includes a piston at its lower end.

6. The marine towing arrangement detined in claim l further including a tensioning weight for maintaining said cable taut, and means for selectively vertically moving said tensioning weight simultaneously with the movement of said adjustable standards to prevent overstraining of said cable.

7. The marine towing arrangement defined in claim 6 wherein said tensioning weight defines a chamber therein and said means for moving said tensioning weight comprises: a hydraulic pump; tubing connecting said pump with said chamber; and valve means for purging said chamber, whereby when it is desired to lower said weight when said adjustable standards are raised, fluid is pumped into said chamber to increase the weight of said tensioning weight and when it is desired to lower said weight when said adjustable standards are lowered, fluid is purged from said chamber to decrease the weight of said tensioning weight. 

